Someone That You're With
by TouchOfViolet
Summary: "The most important of all of the gifts you've been given is the one that you appreciate so little. I'm going to give your gift to someone else and I am going to make you watch as they do treat her the way she deserves to be treated. And you will suffer."
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** Characters are not mine, but the story is.

**A/N:** I know, I know. I shouldn't be starting another new story. But, freaking plot bunny….

Well, I'm kind of a sucker for alternative pairings. But I love YYH cannon. So. I did both. Yes. ^_^

Thanks for beta-ing yet again, Jo Jo! You're .... better than a yo yo? ... what?

This story will contain spoilers for the entire 112 episodes of YYH. Also, having seen episode 102 will help you understand this specific chapter.

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**Someone That You're With**

by Touch of Violet

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"_Somewhere the one I wanna be with  
is with somebody else.  
Oh God, I wanna be that someone that you're with.  
And if you're out there with him somewhere,  
just about to kiss…  
God, I've got to be that someone that you're with."_

-Nickelback (Someone That You're With)

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Prologue

"Oh, please? I just thought we could spend a few minutes on the wedding stuff, and then I rented this movie for us to watch. I promise, we'll only go over the things for the wedding for ten minutes tops! And I rented this movie _just_ for you. I got a feeling you'll like it."

Keiko smiled at her fiancé broadly, holding out the old DVD in her hands. Yusuke took the case from her and raised an eyebrow.

"Um. It's in English."

She nodded, the smile never fading. "Right, but it's dubbed. So, we'll only be hearing Japanese!" Keiko kissed his cheek quickly. "And I'm telling you, you're going to love it."

"It's from the 1980s." Yusuke stated, his eyebrow only lifted higher. "I don't know, Keiko. It looks kinda crappy."

She blew the bangs off her forehead in slight annoyance. "It's Die Hard. It is _your_ type of movie."

He shrugged a shoulder and threw the case onto the kitchen table. "I'm not really in the mood for an old American movie that's dubbed into Japanese. I hate dubbed stuff, Keiko. Their lips just don't ever move in the right time." He shoved his hands in his jacket pocket and started making eyes at the door.

She frowned deeply. "Well, I mean ... that's okay, I guess. Could we at least talk about the wedding?"

Yusuke discreetly rolled his eyes. "What about the wedding? I already told you – whatever you want is fine with me."

"But we still need to set a date, Yusuke," Keiko said, throwing her hands in the air. "Everything else I'll do without you, I promise, but I need you to help me set a date."

"Eh," he yawned, "it doesn't matter to me, Keiko. Just tell me when to show up and what to wear and I'll do it."

"But, Yusuke, I-"

"Look, babe, I'd love to stay here and chat but I gotta get going." He smiled at her, leaning over and placing a quick kiss on her lips. "I know you can handle this wedding stuff, babe. You're good at planning. I'm just … I'm not good at all this stuff. I think you'll be happier if you're in charge."

She bit her lip in thought. "But, Yusuke-"

He kissed her again. "All that really matters is we're marrying each other, right? All this other stuff," he waved a hand around the room, "it doesn't matter. Okay? So, you just hammer out the details, and I'll show up and say the 'I Do's and you'll be happy that I didn't interfere." He raised his shoulders and smiled. "I know you'll handle it all just fine."

Keiko sighed. She gave Yusuke a small smile. "Okay, Yusuke. I'll handle it by myself."

He winked at her and started towards the door. "That's my girl! Don't work too hard, Keiko." He waved at her over his shoulder and disappeared down the hall. He stuck his hand back in his jacket pocket and whistled to himself as he left the Yukimura Ramen Shop.

--

Yusuke was still whistling a few minutes later while he walked down the sidewalks of Tokyo, the sun long ago set beyond the horizon and completely forgotten as the nightlife kicked into gear around the city. He turned a corner and paid no notice to the fact that his surroundings were growing more and more reclusive; instead, he kept on whistling, happy beyond reason for wiggling out of the god awful wedding kick Keiko had been in for weeks now.

"Hello, boy."

Yusuke froze in mid step, his happy tune dying on his lips. His brow furrowed, and he looked over his shoulder to locate the voice.

Leaning against an old, brick building was a woman. She was tall and slender with raven colored hair that ran all the way down her back. Her eyes were dark in color, but with a light shining in them that was so unsettling Yusuke had a hard time turning away from her.

She smiled at him and he couldn't look away. She stepped from the building and approached him; his skin tingled, goosebumps running up and down his arms and legs and neck, and every sense he had was telling him to run. But he couldn't move, he couldn't run away. All he could do was look in her eyes. He could see his downfall in her eyes.

"I suppose you look a little like me," she remarked casually. "However, I was never quite as painfully stubborn as you."

All at once, Yusuke found his voice again. "Who-who are you?"

She titled her head, strands of hair falling into her face. "Stupid boy. You know who I am. And if you do not, you are even dumber than your father says."

"My father?" Yusuke echoed, too stunned to be angry. "How do you know my father?"

A smirk played on her lips.

Yusuke blinked, his mind working overtime. "You mean – Raizen?"

She nodded once.

His mouth hung open and he pointed an index finger at her. "That makes you … you're … you're!"

"I am she," the woman admitted. "And _you_ are flesh of my flesh and bone of my bone. And for that," she sighed quietly, "I am ashamed."

His eyes narrowed in sudden realization that he should be upset with the things she was saying. "Excuse me, lady? You got something to say to me?"

"_You_, my son, are an idiot."

Yusuke's blood boiled and his hands clenched into fists. "Look, lady! I don't appreciate somebody who's been dead for seven hundred years just popping out of nowhere to call me names! If you wanna start trouble-"

She raised a hand, immediately silencing him. "In your pathetic little life, Yusuke, you've been given three incredible gifts that you have done absolutely nothing to deserve."

He growled low in his throat and she arched an eyebrow at him, as if challenging him to continue. He glared, but stopped making noise, and she let her eyebrow fall. "As I was saying. You were given three gifts by the gods that you do not deserve. The first is your heritage. Your father Raizen proved himself to be someone of great worth. You do not deserve to walk around in his primordial ooze, yet you are the sole living creature who was fruit of his loins.

"The second gift was your natural ability to fight. You did nothing to earn it, nothing to improve your skill at it, you were just born with a knack for knocking other people down." She hummed quietly. "It was because of both your unusual heritage and your god given gift of fighting that you were allowed to come back to life to be a Spirit Detective. Without those two things, you would have not been any different than any other human, and your life would have had a much shorter run.

"Finally, my son, the most important of all of the gifts you've been given is the one that you appreciate so little." She looked him dead in the eyes, and Yusuke felt the breath leave his lungs. "She asks almost nothing of you."

His stomach dropped down to his feet and his brow furrowed. "What?"

She smirked, the light in her eyes flaming. "Your last and most important gift bestowed to you by the gods, your most undeserving of prizes: Keiko."

"What?" Yusuke exclaimed. "What the hell does Keiko have to do with anything?"

"She has kept you grounded your entire life," the woman said as the wind picked up, blowing her raven hair behind her. "She has given you reason to live when there was none. And she has been your reason to fight when you would've rather just given up. Keiko is the greatest gift you have ever been given, and yet you do not appreciate all she has done for you."

Yusuke growled again, feeling his hands make fists at his sides. "You don't know what you're talking about, lady. Me and Keiko are just fine. We're getting married!"

"And you do not appreciate the vow she is about to take for you – to belong to you, and only you, for the rest of her human life." The wind stilled and her hair gently brushed against her skin. "You even left her home and her arms tonight in favor of finding a fight against an unskilled opponent. Truly, you do not understand how you have been blessed by her."

His eyes narrowed and his lips settled in a thin line. "You don't know what you're talking about."

A full blown smile spread across her features. "Oh, I assure you. I completely understand that you do not appreciate your gift. And it is my job, my son, to make sure that you do."

Yusuke rolled his eyes. "Uh huh. And just how are you gonna do that?"

"I am going to give your gift to someone who will appreciate it." She stepped forward, pulling out a small knife that had been tucked away in her kimono. "I am going to give your gift to someone else and I am going to make you watch as they do treat her the way she deserves to be treated. And you," she said, reaching for his hand. Yusuke wanted to pull it away, he wanted to run, but he was frozen in his feet, stuck to the concrete, unable to look away from her eyes; the same eyes that had brought down his ancestral father, "_You _will suffer."

She pressed the knife against his palm, drawing a line of blood in the center. He winced but did not pull his hand away. Then she took her own palm and cut into it, letting the blood run down her arm and crash against the sidewalk. She pressed her open wound against his, and smiled when he started to sway back and forth on his feet.

Yusuke's world started to close in on him. His eyes rolled into the back of his head and just before he hit the ground, the woman chuckled.

"Sleep well, my son."

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**A/N**: I've got a good chunk of the first chapter written, and a week off from school (though not work) to finish it in. But, reviews couldn't hurt. ;p


	2. Stupid Boy

**Disclaimer:** Disclaimed.

**A/N:** First, let me apologize for not updating in forever. I re-wrote this chapter three times, honest to God, each time going in a completely different direction. But I really like this, so I hope you will too. Also, I'm pregnant. Yep. Almost 14 weeks. And that kept me away from writing because, if you don't know yet, let me be the first to tell you - morning sickness is a bitch. And, so not happening just in the morning. I lost 8 pounds in my first trimester. Awesome. But I'm feeling better now! So, when I'm not working or busy with school, I will be trying to right more. Because I figure when the kid is born in November (my due date is the day before my birthday) I'm not going to have a lot of time to be writing.

Thank you Jordan for beta-ing, even when you're in Scotland!

And thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far! They guilted me in to posting! ;p

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"_You stupid boy.  
You always had to be right.  
And now you've lost the only thing that ever made you feel alive.  
Well she laid her heart and soul right in your hands,  
and you stole her every dream and you crushed her plans.  
She never even knew she had a choice,  
and that's what happens when the only voice she hears is telling her she can't.  
You stupid boy."_

-Keith Urban (Stupid Boy)

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Chapter One

Yusuke was dead.

At least, he was pretty sure he was dead.

He was … floating. A lot. And no one seemed to notice that he was floating.

But, then again, Botan hadn't popped up. So it wasn't like the first time he was dead. But, on the other hand, the second time he died he never left his body in the first place.

So…

He was pretty sure he was probably dead. Or something like it.

He sighed loudly, his puff of air propelling him faster as he floated over the streets of Tokyo. He crossed his arms against his chest and furrowed his brow, trying his hardest to think.

Which, for Yusuke Urameshi, was no easy task.

"How did I die this time?" He wondered out loud, tapping his chin. "Or, am I dreaming?"

He hummed quietly as he floated over the heads of people walking underneath him, half paying attention to where he was drifting to, but mostly getting a headache from thinking so hard.

"What – what was I doing last?" He stretched his arms over his head. "I think," he said, scrunching up his nose. "There's something on the tip of my brain and I can't … I can't get to it."

The wind carried him towards the college, and Yusuke scratched his temple, wondering why he was feeling pain if he was dead.

So, he was probably dreaming.

_I am – right? I'm not … dead again, right?_

There were a bunch of students in the quad. He flipped over to lie on his stomach, watching the students with interest. His eyebrows narrowed and he tried to spot any of the people he knew attending, because maybe they had answers to why he was currently wafting in the wind.

"Hey, KEIKO! Wait up!"

Yusuke tilted his head and focused on signaling out the voice he knew so well, and, consequentially, the loudest voice in the entire Tokyo U. quad. He smiled when he saw Kuwabara running towards Keiko, arms flailing about as he did so.

He was panting when he finally came to a halt before the pretty brunette girl. She giggled at him behind her hand. "What's up, Kuwabara?"

He smiled as he panted, finally regaining enough composure to stand up straight. "Boy, do you move fast, Keiko."

She giggled again. "Sorry, Kuwabara. I was anxious to get home."

The tall redhead rubbed the back of his neck and smiled sheepishly. "Right, right. Anyway, I just wanted to tell you I got a, uh, a postcard from him."

Her interest was obviously perked immediately. "Really?"

Kuwabara nodded, and Yusuke floated closer to them, unsure of what they were talking about.

"He's doing good," Kuwabara said, smiling brightly. "Just thought you'd want to know."

Keiko returned his smile. "That's good! I'm glad to hear it! Will he be back soon? I know how much you miss him."

He shrugged a shoulder and let his arm drop down to his side. "I dunno," he admitted slowly. "But, anyway. How's the wedding comin'? You need help with anything?"

"Well," she began, a line creasing in-between her eyebrows the way it always did when she was thinking, "there _is_ a cake tasting later this week."

_Wedding? What – oh, right! Duh, stupid! Your wedding. So, can't be dead. Has to be a … dream._

"Count me in!" Kuwabara exclaimed loudly. "You know, I'm an excellent connoisseur of cake."

"Really now?" She chuckled, "well, I'm glad I asked then. I'll give you a call and let you know the time and place. Sound good?"

"Sounds great!" Kuwabara replied. "You want me to walk you home?"

She nodded. "You don't mind?"

"Puh-lease," he said, rolling his eyes and starting to walk away from her. "What kind of man minds walking a pretty girl home?"

Keiko blushed as she walked by his side. "Always the gentleman, Kuwabara."

Yusuke rolled his eyes and floated after them. "Don't be getting fresh, Kuwabara," he remarked with a lazy yawn, "Keiko's a taken woman."

The three of them continued down the road, out of the college grounds and into the city. They hadn't proceeded very far when they stopped at a rather nice apartment building with a large front yard area and even a doorman standing in front of the bright red doors.

Which was weird. Because that was not where Keiko lived. But-

"Here's home!" The girl exclaimed, her long brown hair flying around her as she twirled in front of Kuwabara. "Sorry you had to walk so far off campus."

Yusuke let his feet touch the ground and stared at the building. "Keiko, you live with your parents. What are you doing here?"

Kuwabara shrugged and stuck his hands in his pockets. "Eh, I don't mind. You aren't that far off campus. Besides, your fiancé-"

"I know, I know," Keiko said, rolling her eyes and putting her fist on her hip, "he's overprotective and bossy and so forth blah blah blah, but," she smiled brightly at the redhead again, "thank you anyway."

Yusuke scratched his temple. "Overprotective and bossy?" He echoed, feeling insulted, but too distracted by the doorman – _seriously, a doorman, in this city?_ – to do anything about it.

"Listen, I wanted to talk to you," the redhead continued, a slight blush appearing on his cheeks, "I've been, trying to, you know … ask out Yukina. But Hiei's always there and-"

"I know what you're getting at," Keiko said, raising a hand to stop him, "and since you're my friend, I'll kill Hiei for you."

Kuwabara tripped over absolutely nothing and almost fell to the ground. Yusuke scrunched his brow and stared at the both of them, that feeling of a thought being right at the tip of his brain but out of his grasp leaving him hopelessly speechless and feeling rather numb.

"No, no!" Kuwabara said, a sweat drop forming on his brow, "what I meant was maybe you could set up a double date?"

Yusuke raised his arms in confusion. "But how is the four of us going out on a date gonna help with Hiei at all? And – dude? How do you even know about Hiei and Yukina?"

Keiko nodded and smiled brightly. "I'm sure I can arrange something, Kuwabara. I think that Yukina is sweet on you too," she winked and his blush deepened.

He nodded and rubbed his neck, taking a slow step backwards. "Well, thanks a lot Keiko. I better be getting back – I got a paper due in the morning. I'll talk to you later?"

She waved him off with her left hand – her engagement ring twinkling in the setting sunlight - and twirled around in the yard, smiling and greeting the doorman who held open the doors for her.

Yusuke stared feeling frozen in his spot, watching her disappear into the apartment, unable to follow after her. Total confusion racked his body and he had trouble processing what he was seeing.

Because this was not her house.

Because Kuwabara did not know about Hiei and Yukina.

Because she didn't threaten to kill Hiei for anybody.

Because that was most certainly not the engagement ring that he purchased for her – that he went down on one knee with.

And because the stone in the ring was definitely, beyond a shadow of a doubt, _not_ a diamond.

Yusuke fell to the ground, his brain spinning and his tail bone aching from the sudden crash. "Got to be a dream," he muttered to himself, wiping his face with his palm.

_Because Keiko sure as hell doesn't own any Hiruiseki stones._

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**A/N:**Dun dun dun!!!


	3. Mr Brightside

**Disclaimer:** Hn.

**Author's Notes:** I know. I suck.

Many thanks to my beta, Jordan, for fixing my exceptions as well as my expectations.

Thank you so much for reviewing/favoriting/alerting. They make me feel so guilty that I write even though I'm a miserable pregnant person. By the way, I'm 31 weeks pregnant now with a little boy. His name is Samuel Strider. Because I'm awesome (as long as you ignore the sucking).

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"_Now they're going to bed  
and my stomach is sick  
and it's all in my head, but she's touching his  
chest now.  
He takes off her dress now.  
Let me go.  
I just can't look,  
it's killing me.  
And it's taking control.  
Oh yes.  
Oh no no no!"_

The Killers (Mr. Brightside)

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Chapter Two

That night, Yusuke could do little besides watch Keiko. She spent the night alone in the decent sized apartment, smiling and humming to herself as she completed her chores and prepared herself for bed. She was still smiling when she crawled into the giant king sized bed alone, pulling the covers up to her chin, and turning off the lights.

He had laid their next to her, watching her sleep, wondering what she was dreaming about. But, most importantly wondering, _What the hell is going on?_

_Even in the dark, the Hiruiseki stone sparkles._

He didn't sleep, but he didn't figure he would anyway. Because, he was dreaming. You can't dream about sleeping.

_Right?_

She woke up early, a smile still on her pretty face, and was dressed and out the door faster than Yusuke knew she could get ready.

He followed her, floating just behind her, as she walked through the city and to a small, upscale shopping plaza. Shizuru was sitting on a bench in the plaza, a lit cigarette in between her lips. She stood to greet Keiko, dropping the cigarette and stomping it out with the heel of her loafer.

Keiko hugged the much taller girl. "Hope I didn't keep you waiting too long."

Shizuru shrugged. "Not like I had anything better to do anyway. You ready?"

The younger girl nodded in response, a smile on her face as she and her friend entered one of the shops in the plaza.

Yusuke followed them into a dress shop, already bored and still confused. A foreign looking blonde woman gave an excited cry behind the counter before jumping up and pushing Keiko over to stand behind a changing screen.

Shizuru blinked at the exchange and sat down in an empty chair. "I still think this whole thing is ridiculous. And time consuming."

Yusuke sat down next to her and crossed his arms against his chest.

"It would go faster," said a high pitched female voice, belonging presumably to the foreign blonde lady, "if someone," insert grunt here, "would stop gaining weight. I'm going to need to make another adjustment, Miss Yukimura!"

Keiko gave a whining noise and Yusuke couldn't help but smirking. "Fatty fatty two by four, can't fit through the kitchen door," he sang.

Shizuru chuckled. "I thought you were sticking to your diet."

"I am!" Keiko protested loudly from behind the changing screen. "I just … stress eating! But, you know, carrots and yogurt and stuff."

"Uh huh," Shizuru acquiesced, "so if I looked in your purse right now, which I happen to be sitting next to – it's right here, on the floor next to my chair – I would not find, say, a twinkie?"

Keiko whined again. "Um, no?"

Yusuke turned to look at the girl sitting next to him. "I could go for a twinkie," he said. Shizuru didn't respond.

Of course.

Because, dreaming.

And, apparently, invisible.

He sighed and slouched further in his chair.

"Okay! Well, that should do for now, Miss Yukimuru," the blonde lady said, and moments later, Keiko stepped out from behind the changing screen. Except, she didn't look like Keiko anymore.

Yusuke's chin hit his knees and he couldn't feel his fingers.

Her dress was simple. It was off white in color, with a square scoop neckline, giving her a very modest show of cleavage. It hung to her body delicately, with an almost ethereal looking train of embroidered lace flowing behind her. She smiled and his heart stopped beating.

Shizuru hummed approvingly. "All this fuss over a dress. It's not like you guys haven't been married since you were kids anyway. And _white_?" She shook her head.

Keiko's face turned bright red as the blonde woman worked around her, sticking pins into different parts of the dress. "My dad is Protestant! I can't help it. And, it was important to him for me to have a white dress."

"You do look beautiful," Shizuru finally allowed.

Yusuke's heart finally started beating again, so hard it pounded behind his eyeballs. "Fatty fatty two by four…" he tried again in a desperate attempt to be able to blink, but his voice stuck in his throat.

_She is so beautiful._

"That should do it!" The blonde woman announced. "We'll get you changed and I'll start working on the alterations. But you better stop eating twinkies if you ever want to get down the aisle with even a semblance of a figure!"

Keiko blushed again as she followed the lady behind the changing screen.

Once she was out of sight, Yusuke found his breath again.

--

He had no idea two women could cover so much ground while one of them was in heels. The girls didn't slow down for anything, hitting several different shopping plazas and adding to their collection of bags before finally winding up at the mall.

He was also amazed how they could talk about absolutely everything and nothing at the exact same time. He found himself extremely bored as they went on and on about stupid girl things. Briefly, he thought about maybe trying to follow one of his other dream friends, but before he could even come up with a plan, the girls had stopped talking and we were waving frantically at someone.

Yusuke touched down behind them just as Yukina approached, a large bag on her elbow and a baseball bat slung over her shoulder, a dainty hand casually holding on to it's end.

She smiled brightly and gave each of them a huge hug, careful of her baseball bat. "Oh, what a lovely surprise! I was planning on calling each of you later on the cellular phone!"

"Oh yeah?" Shizuru asked, keeping an eye on the bat the small ice maiden carried.

"Yes," Yukina nodded, "to remind you of our park visit tomorrow!"

Shizuru blinked once, twice before she sighed. "Oh. Right."

Yukina tilted her head, her grip on her bat tightening ever so slightly. "You didn't forget, did you?"

"Of course not," Keiko said. "I've even got the food ordered from the shop, so everyone will be well fed!"

"Ah. Food. Again." Shizuru mumbled not quite under her breath.

Yusuke laughed at the look Keiko shot the older girl.

"Kazuma is going to be so surprised," Yukina smiled brightly. "I am very excited! I have never gotten to plan a party before."

Keiko managed to find her smile again. "Well, you're doing an excellent job."

A companionable silence followed, and the girls just stood in their small circle, Yusuke on the outside. From his view, he could watch Shizuru and Keiko both eye Yukina's baseball bat with no little amount of uncertainty. Keiko kept sneaking quick glances at it, a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes plastered on her face, while Shizuru just out right stared.

Finally, Shizuru cleared her throat. "So. What's with the bat?"

"Hmm?" Yukina questioned. "Oh! Right. This bat!" She smiled brightly and held out the bag that was on her arm, revealing a collection of baseballs. "Kazuma has been speaking about a sport called 'baseball' often. I thought perhaps we might be able to play it at the park tomorrow, and the man at the sports store was very helpful with my purchases. Did you know that it is called 'baseball' because first, you hit a ball, and then, you run to different bases?"

Shizuru's lips curled and Keiko hid her giggle in a cough. "Really?" Shizuru asked.

"Yes!" Yukina continued.

"Well, I think a baseball game is a great idea, Yukina," Keiko supplied. "Shizuru and I have some more shopping to do. Would you like to come with us?"

The ice maiden shook her head. "Thank you, but I really need to get back to the temple or Genkai will worry, and the train leaves soon."

The girls hugged their goodbyes and Yusuke soon found himself floating above them once more, bored out of his mind.

--

Yusuke floated above the two women for the rest of the day as they continued different shopping errands. He was bored. And distracted. And mostly wondering – did Keiko always look like that?

And what the hell had he been doing all this time, not paying attention?

Maybe dream Keiko was just hotter than real Keiko.

But, he knew that wasn't true. Because real Keiko was exceptionally good looking. He smiled as he floated, a very clear image of her lean legs flashing through his brain.

When he woke up, he was so going to pay homage to those fantastic legs of hers. Mmm, and her perfect pink lips. And her soft, so soft skin.

Come to think of it –

_When was the last time I-_

"Stop being mean, Shizuru!" Keiko exclaimed with a laugh in her voice. "I'm hungry and it's almost dinner and we've been running errands all day so can we eat? Pleaaaase?"

"Well," the older girl sighed around a cigarette, "I guess we have walked off enough calories today. And your family's shop is close by."

Keiko clapped her hands together, undisturbed by the bags hanging from her arms, and started skipping down the sidewalk towards where food was.

Yusuke chuckled along with Shizuru and touched down on the ground, walking behind the two of them. He stared at dream Keiko's legs as he walked, happy that they were just as nice as real Keiko's legs. Her skirt was shorter than she normally wore, and her heels were just a little bit taller, and she was –

Screaming.

Keiko screamed and Yusuke found his heart in his throat, tearing his eyes away from her legs to find out what the hell she was screaming about.

Hiei was standing in front of the ramen shop, arms across his chest and looking rather annoyed.

"You're back!" Keiko stated, hopping up and down on the balls of her feet. "I didn't expect you until tomorrow! What are you doing here?"

He raised an eyebrow before casting a glance at her companion. "I could ask you the same thing. Aren't you normally in class on Tuesdays?"

Yusuke's heart wormed its way back in his chest and he narrowed his eyes at the demon.

_Why the hell does Hiei have Keiko's schedule memorized?_

_Oh. Right. Dream._

Keiko waved a dismissive hand, a giant smile still lighting up her face. "I had wedding errands to run today. And that's more important than class. But right now, I'm starving! Have dinner with us?"

He shrugged a single shoulder and ended up being dragged into the shop overenthusiastically by Keiko.

Their meal was fairly … normal, if you could call the hodgepodge group that was eating together normal. Yusuke drooled over the ramen and even tried to eat some – but that was pointless.

The conversation was mostly between Shizuru and Keiko, which was not surprising, given the fact that Hiei didn't talk much. Unless he was taunting something before he killed it. But what was surprising was the way he kept looking at Keiko. And the way Keiko kept looking right back at him.

Yusuke decided he didn't care for dream Hiei very much. And when he woke up he was going to have to have a talk with real Hiei. With his fists, preferably. Because he couldn't punch dream Hiei. He tried.

When they left the shop, Yusuke was expecting dream Hiei to be on his merry way and leave the girls alone. But instead, it was Shizuru who left, waving them off with a cigarette in her mouth.

And when she turned the corner, and it was just the three of them all alone outside of the restaurant, Hiei's red eyes flashed dangerously in Keiko's direction.

And then he was pushing her up against the wall, his hands under her clothes and his mouth on hers.

And Yusuke exploded.

With his face bright red and steam pouring out of his ears, Yusuke yelled out an impressive stream of curse words – calling into question not only Hiei's parentage but his sexual disposition as well as his treatment of animals before he could even gather enough wits about himself to make a fist.

He went to swing, and Keiko and Hiei parted. Her cheeks were pink and her lips were swollen. "Hiei," she scolded, "not right outside my parents' shop! Anyone could just walk by."

Hiei grunted and placed a kiss on her cheek before scooping her up in his arms and taking off.

"HEY!" Yusuke screamed, letting himself float up into the air and trying desperately to catch up to them. "Come back here! I'm not done with you, you bastard!"

When Yusuke managed to catch up to the couple, they were already back at their apartment, and Keiko was lightly scolding Hiei for wearing his boots in the house and getting mud on the carpet. The fire demon rolled his eyes and kneeled down on the floor to start untying his boots while Keiko smiled appreciatively and began walking towards the bedroom.

The former spirit detective launched himself at Hiei, trying his best to tackle the unsuspecting demon. However, he fell right through Hiei, and landed on the floor with a thud.

Spitting and cursing, Yusuke stood up and tried again, determined to rip the third eye right out of Hiei's forehead.

"I'm so excited you're back!" Keiko called from the bedroom, "They let you go early?"

"Something like that," Hiei responded, one boot off.

"Well, I'm glad Enki is letting you work in shifts. How many days do you think you'll be here for?"

"Same as last time," Hiei answered, completely unaware of the spirit detective flying up into the air and trying to dive bomb him.

Keiko poked her head out of the doorway, her jewelry off and her shirt mostly unbuttoned. "I ran into Yukina today," she smiled. "If you're going to be around for a few days, I think we should all go out together. Maybe like, the movies, or something."

Hiei grunted his consent, his second boot finally off.

"YOU BASTARD!" Yusuke shouted from the ceiling before kicking off and trying to take Hiei's head off by sheer force of his speed.

But Hiei stood up and moved out of the way before Yusuke made contact – not that it would have mattered much anyway.

Keiko disappeared back through the doorway, and a few moments later the sound of running water came from the bathroom adjoined to the master bedroom. "And tomorrow, a bunch of us are all going to the park as a surprise for Kuwabara's birthday. You should come."

Hiei wandered into the bedroom, untying the cloth from around his forehead. "For that idiot? Why?"

"Well," Keiko's voice came from the bathroom, "Yukina and Kurama will be there. And so will I. And, _please_?" The sound of the shower curtain opening and closing rang through the room.

"KILL YOU!" Yusuke screamed, once again finding himself too transparent to make any physical contact with the fire demon.

Hiei took off his cloak and threw it on the bed before reaching for the ties on his pants, a devilish grin on his face as he approached the bathroom.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" Yusuke yelled, standing before the doorway with his arms outstretched. "She's bathing, you bastard! Don't you go in there! DON'T YOU TOUCH HER!"

But Hiei paid him no mind and stepped right through him and into the bathroom.

Yusuke sank to his knees and covered his ears with his hands, panting hard. "This can't be happening," he told himself, trying to block out the sound of Keiko's surprised giggle. "This isn't real," he said, his fingers digging hard into his ear drums, desperately trying to ignore the sounds of wet kisses and slippery skin on slippery skin.

Keiko moaned and it was too much.

Yusuke flew away, as far away as he could from that building, from that room, from that _noise_.

And that's when he realized something.

_I can't be dreaming._

Because no matter what direction he went, or for how long he floated, or how hard he flew … he kept winding up back at their apartment building, somehow tied to that room, tied to that noise.

No. He wasn't dreaming.

_I'm in hell!_

_

* * *

_**A/N:** Here's the link to what I used as the model for Keiko's dress: http:// media. /image /wedding %20dress /breathlesslove/ WeddingDress9. jpg (remove the spaces)


	4. Over and Over

**A note of apology:** Well, I think most of you have probably forgotten about this story because it's been forever and a day since I've updated, so why bother apologizing?

**A/N:** I gave birth to a baby boy last November, and have been unable, for one reason or another, to sit down and write. As he has gotten older, it's become a little easier to work on my fanfiction hobby. A writing app on the Iphone has been my best friend. And so, here I am, forever and a day later, with an update for this story.

This chapter makes up two (very, very, impossibly) late entries to the livejournal community yyh(underscore)contest.

Thanks, as always, to my wonderful beta Jordan. She really does beta my world!

* * *

_"It feels like everyday stays the same.  
It's dragging me down and I can't pull away.  
So here I go again,  
Chasing you down again.  
Why do I do this?  
Over and over, over and over...  
I fall for you."_

_- _Over and Over (Three Days Grace)

Chapter Three

**Spice**

A mixture of relief and dread came over Yusuke while he watched the sun rise out of Hiei and Keiko's window. A small part of him was hoping that the new day would bring an end to his current situation, because maybe, just maybe, it was only a nightmare.

_Pfft. Never had a nightmare this bad._

But the rest of him knew that the daylight would only bring about more chances for interaction between _his_ Keiko and everyone else. And he wasn't sure his heart could take much more of it.

_As soon as I get a chance, I am dismembering Hiei. Starting with his fu-_

Keiko's alarm went off and the pretty brunette emerged from underneath the covers, yawning and stretching. Hiei stirred next to her groggily, cursing about the noise. She laughed softly and turned off the alarm. She pulled off the covers and started to get up.

"Where are you going?" Hiei asked, grabbing her forearm.

"Morning math class at nine," she said, another yawn catching her off guard. "I gotta shower and get ready."

He grunted. "No shower. You just started smelling halfway decent."

Keiko raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

Hiei shrugged carelessly. "You don't smell like … your soaps or the other humans at your school," he pulled her down to embrace her, kissing the pulse point on her neck. "You smell spicy."

Keiko laughed and pulled away from him. "You mean I smell like you?"

He grinned. "And it took all night to get it that way."

"Ew," Yusuke said from his place at the window. He pounded his forehead against the glass. "Ew. Ew. Ew. Please, random sniper, please just shoot me now."

"Fine," Keiko sighed, stepping out of bed and walking over to the dresser that was near Hiei, "I won't shower. But I do have to get ready for school."

Hiei's grin took on a devilish quality and he grabbed Keiko around the waist, pulling her back into bed with him. She laughed and playfully slapped at his chest. "Hiei!" She scolded, "I can't! I'm going to be late for school!"

Yusuke closed his eyes. _Wishing for death is pointless because I'm already dead._ He was forced to plug his ears when Keiko clearly stopped worrying about being late for school. He groaned and blindly banged his against the window. _Dead and in hell._ "I just wish Koenma would send me to the eternal lake of fire already!"

Keiko giggled and Yusuke wanted to pull his own head off his neck.

_I HATE that stupid toddler! _

_

* * *

_

Keiko was fifteen minutes late for math class. She was wearing two different shoes but there was a giant smile on her glowing face. Her professor waved her in and she took a seat in the back, a sulking Yusuke floating behind her.

The girl in the desk next to Keiko leaned over. "Why are you late, Yukimura?"

Keiko blushed as she fumbled around in her bag for a pencil. The girl next to her handed her one of her spares. "Oh, thank you. Um, I'm late because – my fiancé got back into town last night."

The other girl giggled. "Oooooh. Way to go, Yukiumura!"

"Ugh," Yusuke groaned, hiding his face in his hands. "Shut up about it, already!"

"Alright class," the professor said, backing away from the white board where he had written out an exceptionally long calculus problem. "Try to do this on your own. Remember to show your work!"

Keiko started to copy the problem down into her notebook and Yusuke groaned even loader. "This sucks!" he shouted. "First freaking Hiei and Keiko and their WRONGNESS and now I'm stuck in a MATH CLASS!" He punched his fist into the wall, unsurprised when no damage was done. "What did I do to deserve this?"

* * *

Yusuke was more than a little relieved when math class ended and Keiko started heading down to her parent's ramen shop. Her father was very happy to see her, leaving his place at the stove to give her a hug.

"I've got your order all ready for you, sweetheart. But I wish you would've let me deliver it."

She followed him behind the counter. "It's really no need, Dad. Kurama is going to meet me here and help me take it to the park."

Mr. Yukimura pulled out three big boxes of food and set them on a table. He wiped his hands off on his apron. "How are you doing? Getting nervous for the big day?"

"Not yet," she said. "But it's still a few days away."

The door opened and Kurama stepped inside, followed shortly by Hiei.

_Yeah, shortly. He's like three inches tall. Stupid…toad._

"Speak of the devil!" Mr. Yukimura greeted happily. "My future son in law himself. How about you, Hiei? Getting nervous for the big day?"

Hiei and Kurama exchanged a look that made Yusuke feel like he was missing an inside joke. "No," he finally said. "I'm ready."

Keiko smiled broadly and walked around the counter to give them both a hug. "I didn't plan on you coming," she told Hiei.

He shrugged carelessly, taking the box of food that Kurama handed to him. "I'm stuck going to the idiot's birthday party anyway."

Keiko gave him a look, but Kurama smiled. "It was hard to keep him away from the University. I'm surprised he actually waited this long to see you."

Hiei glared at the fox demon, but Keiko blushed prettily and kissed his cheek.

Mr. Yukimura turned to his stove, sighing. "I wish someone would ask me how I feel about the wedding," he admitted to his pots and pans. "I gotta walk down the aisle and stand up there in front of all those people and give the bride away. Really hope I don't fall. Or piss myself."

Despite the situation, Yusuke laughed. He could always count on Keiko's dad to cheer him up, and he was relieved that at least one thing was the way it should be.

* * *

**Sunlight**

"I hate baseball," Yusuke sulked, stomping his toes into the red clay dirt. "I hate baseball and I hate Hiei and I hate Koenma and I hate everyone."

His group of friends had gathered together at the park, enjoyed the lunch that Keiko, Hiei, and Kurama had brought with them. They had then eaten cake, sang Kuwabara a Happy Birthday song, and were currently engaged in a game of baseball.

There weren't quite enough people on hand to make up two full teams, so they were improvising. Hiei and Kurama manned the three bases together while Shizuru pitched to her brother, who was the catcher, and one of Kuwabara's ugly friends hung back in the outfield. Not that anyone had been able to hit a ball to the outfield. He was ugly, and back there no one had to look at him too closely.

There were a whole lot of girls on the other team. Girls and Kuwabara's other ugly friend. Botan had been first to bat, and actually was rather good. She had run all the way to first base, and was being sophisticatedly taunted by Kurama. Yukina had not done so well, striking out and returning very quickly to the dugout. Kuwabara, however, thought this a very upsetting event and had called his sister names.

Not very mean names. After all, it was just Kuwabara. And he was as stupid as his friends were ugly. And also ugly himself.

One of Keiko's school friends had been up next, and after two balls and three strikes was sent back to the dugout with Yukina. So Keiko went up to bat.

And she was not very good. But she was wearing very short, shorts that showed off her long, tan legs and giggled so adorably every time she hit a foul ball.

"I'm sorry guys," she said, putting the bat on her shoulder and sighing. "I have no idea what I'm doing."

"That much is obvious," Shizuru snorted, and Keiko stuck her tongue out.

Hiei shook his head and walked towards home plate from third base. "Here, I'll show you."

"HEY!" Kuwabara exclaimed indignantly as Hiei began moving Keiko's arms into the appropriate batting position, "You can't do that. You're on our team, remember, shrimp? Plus, how do you even know how to play baseball?"

Hiei managed to both glare and grin simultaneously in the tall redhead's direction. "I'll remember that the next time Yukina is up to bat."

Kuwabara's face turned a brighter red than his hair and he squatted back behind the base.

Hiei held Keiko to his chest and maneuvered her arms from his position intimately behind her. Yusuke glared and growled.

"You're too short for her, Hiei!" He yelled, but, like he suspected, no one noticed.

The fire demon pressed his knees into the back of Keiko's so that her feet took the proper stance, and he started swaying both of their hips at the same time.

"OOOOOH!" Botan yelled from first base. "You silly love birds, we're trying to play a game here!"

Kurama and a few of the girls laughed, but Shizuru sighed and shook her head. "I need a cigarette," she mumbled, punching her fist into her mitt.

"Just stand like this and keep your eye on the ball," Hiei said to Keiko, kissing her on the shoulder.

She laughed and continued to sway back and forth on her feet. "Okay, whatever you say."

Hiei walked back to his place between second and third base, everyone in their group, besides Keiko and Yukina, making cat calls.

"Stupid dickhead," Yusuke said, digging his toes into the clay deeper. "Freaking hate him."

Shizuru pitched the ball underhand and Keiko swung, making direct contact and sending the ball to the outfield. Their entire group of friends erupted into applause, and the opposing team stepped back so Botan and Keiko could run all of the bases.

There were even more laughs and cat calls when, as Keiko ran passed third base, Hiei gave her a pat on the bum.

"I HATE EVERYONE!" Yusuke shouted, stomping up and down on his feet like a toddler having a tantrum.

A whimsical female voice began laughing behind him. He stopped and spun around, surprised by a lone woman sitting in the stands. She was beautiful, with pale skin and long, flowing black hair. Her dark eyes locked with his and he could not look away.

Several heartbeats passed before Yusuke remembered how to breathe. "You," he whispered.

She smiled coyly. "Hello, my son. Enjoying your friends?"

Yusuke shook his head in an attempt to clear his mind. "What? No! I'm not! And how can you see me? And how did I get here? And," he pulled his hands into fists at his side and glared, his nostrils flaring. "_What did you do to me_?"

She laughed again, tossing her head back. "My dear son! Do you not remember anything you are told? I'm teaching you a lesson, remember? I gave your gift to someone else." The woman looked him over with a playful glint in her beautiful eyes. "How are you handling it?"

"My…gift," Yusuke mumbled, confusion temporarily crowding out anger. "You mean, you're the reason Hiei and Keiko are…doing _things_?"

"Hm," she acquiesced giving a nod. "Is your lesson teaching you anything?"

His anger simmered, and he turned away from the woman to glare at the baseball field, his group of former friends carrying on like nothing was different. Like it didn't even matter that he wasn't there. "Only that the people I thought were my friends are a bunch of douche bags. And that Hiei deserves to die."

"Ah, so you haven't noticed." She said, sounding pleased. "I didn't think you would."

He growled. "Noticed what? That my life is meaningless? That no one cares about me?"

"Not everything is all about you, dear son," the woman snapped, eyes narrowing. "I mean about Hiei. What do you notice about Hiei?"

"Besides the fact that he's a douche bag?" Yusuke said with a roll of his eyes. "Nothing!"

She sighed. "Take a look at him. And tell me what you see."

His eyes narrowed as he looked for the fire demon on the field. It wasn't hard to find him. He had made it to second base for his team, Keiko and Botan on either side of him. They were both clearly teasing him, and he was grinning while ignoring their taunts. Keiko poked his cheek and in the blink of an eye he had her thrown over his shoulder and stole a base, bringing both of them to third. When he set her down, their whole group was laughing, including Hiei.

"He's….laughing," Yusuke said, astonished. "And no one died."

The woman hummed approvingly. "That's right, my son. Hiei is _happy_."

He snorted. "Well, duh. He got lucky this morning. Of course Hiei is happy."

She narrowed her eyes at Yusuke in such a way that he knew he should stop speaking. "Foolish boy. You still do not understand."

Even though Yusuke knew he shouldn't respond, his ego bristled at being called foolish. "Well why don't you just _tell _me then?"

The woman stood from her seat on the bleachers and approached him. "If you do not understand now, simply telling you will not be enough." She stopped at the foot of the bleachers and raised her hands, gently touching her ice cold fingers against his skin. Yusuke wanted to push her away, he wanted to run as fast as he could from her, but her gaze held him still. She bent her neck down until he could feel her cold breath on his face. She leaned forward until her lips grazed his, and a metallic taste filled his mouth. "I will have to show you."

* * *

**End Notes:** It seems lately the one way I am inspired to write is to challenge myself. I managed to write this story using two prompts - Spice and Sunlight - from the livejournal community yyh(undercore)contest/ If you would like to read more about the story challenges I'm entering, or get a first hand look at my rough drafts, check me out on livejournal at www(dot)touchofviolet(dot)livejournal(dot)com. Everything I'm writing is posted there first and foremost.

2,298 words.


	5. Glitter in the Air

**Mind the rating, guys.**_  
_

.

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_It's only half past the point of oblivion_

_The hourglass on the table_

_The walk before the run_

_The breath before the kiss_

_And the fear before the flames_

_Have you ever felt this way?_

- P!nk (Glitter in the Air)

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Chapter Five

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Yusuke was drowning. He fought against the vast emptiness around him, his lungs screaming for breath, his arms reaching and pushing and punching to find the surface. There was nothing. _He_ was nothing. And there was a sense of peace that settled over him when he accepted that as truth.

Sunlight and air and dirt and grass and laughter sprung forth from the darkness. Every corner was filled with light, blinding him at first. He gasped for breath and squeezed his eyes closed and wished he could've just drowned.

"It's okay," the voice of a young girl cooed. She sounded so close to him. So clear. The laughter he had heard earlier was somewhere in the background, fuzzy like an old memory.

Yusuke struggled to open his eyes. He blinked in the bright light and could see he had landed in a park. Three picnic tables had been covered in pink plastic; there were cupcakes and food and presents and balloons everywhere, and a dozen kids no older than eight ran around in the clearing.

"You can come out. It's okay. There's plenty."

Yusuke was breathing heavy still. He turned his head and saw Keiko. She had pigtails in her hair and was in a frilly pink dress. Her cheeks were chubby and red and her smile was bright. Yusuke was surprised to realize he remembered this. This was Keiko's eighth birthday. Sure enough, he could spot himself running around with the kids in the background. They were so far away, he had to strain to see them, and even then it wasn't clear. Their outlines were smudged and their noises were almost muted.

This was not _his_ memory of Keiko's eighth birthday party.

She had placed a hand on a tree and was smiling up at the branches. "It's my party. I can invite anybody I want. Do you want to come to my birthday party?"

A small figure in black descended out of the tree and landed in front of Keiko.

_No. Way. Is that seriously Hiei?_

Somehow the fire demon was even shorter than he had been when Yusuke had met him. Hiei was scrawny, his face shrunken in like he hadn't eaten in a very long time. He hid his eyes behind his black hair. The bruise on his cheek was obvious even from where Yusuke sat, ten yards away.

Keiko smiled brilliantly at him. "I'm Keiko!" She chirped. "Do you like cupcakes?"

The earth started spinning underneath Yusuke. He grabbed fistfuls of dirt and grass but to no avail. It opened up under him and he was falling, falling, falling and drowning all over again until he surfaced, grasping on to the branches of a tree outside of the Yukimura Ramen Shop, gasping into the starless night.

Keiko was not much older than she had been at her birthday party. She was kneeling at the base of the tree and speaking quietly to a small boy who sat on his haunches and devoured the food set before him.

"I hope you like it," she whispered shyly. "I helped Dad make it myself."

Hiei looked up from the bowl in his hands. He slurped noodles into his mouth, never breaking eye contact with Keiko. It made a loud noise and he blushed despite himself. "Yeah, it's good."

He was rewarded with that compliment by a smile showing almost all of Keiko's teeth - a couple of which were missing. Hiei's blush deepened and he busied himself with eating.

"Keiko?" An older female voice questioned. Yusuke recognized Mrs. Y's voice before he saw her approach. Her footsteps were tentative. She had one hand over her mouth and the other grasping the hem of her apron. "Keiko, who are you speaking with?"

"Oh, this is my friend Hiei. He - Hiei?" Keiko stood up and looked around. Hiei had disappeared from his seat at the base of the tree at a speed that the female Yukimuras couldn't see. But he hadn't really gone. Hiei hid himself in the branches of the tree, silent as the night around him, a breath away from Yusuke.

Keiko shrugged and took her mother's hand. "I didn't mean to worry you, Momma. Hiei is my friend and he doesn't have a family anymore. He's trying to find them again."

Mrs. Y kneeled down right where her young daughter had been just a moment before. She peered into the bowl and noticed the ramen that was only half eaten. "You brought him food?"

Keiko nodded, playing absentmindedly with a pigtail. "He gets hungry out there by himself."

"Well," Mrs. Y wrung her hands together. "Well," she said again, looking around the yard, "it's getting late, Keiko, and you have school tomorrow. Come." She held out a hand and Keiko took it, obediently following her back into the shop.

Hiei waited until the door closed to exhale. As quickly and as quietly as he could manage, he climbed down to the base of the tree. He finished off the noodles and left the bowl behind when he took off into the darkness.

Yusuke felt a tug on his body, pulling at his legs, sucking him into a black hole feet first, until he was tumbling head over ass right into the ramen shop. It was daytime now and judging by the number of patrons it was probably sometime before the dinner rush. Mr. Y was behind the counter, busy working, but stopping every few moments to peer over the shoulder of the young man back there with him.

Hiei was cutting up vegetables, focused completely on his work, on the knife in his hand and the perfectly even lines he was chopping into the carrots and celery and onions.

Mr. Y clapped him on the shoulder. "Hiei, my boy, I think you may have found your calling."

The younger man flinched at the physical contact but didn't falter in his work. At least not until three young girls walked in, talking and giggling. Hiei froze, held his breath and watched Keiko, older than she had been before and dressed in her junior high uniform and pigtails, lead her friends through the shop and up the stairs. She smiled at him and waved and Hiei nicked his finger on the knife.

Mr. Y shook his head and chuckled. "Bandaids under the counter. And get back to work!"

The world shifted and Yusuke wasn't Yusuke anymore. No longer was he an outsider, peeking in on Hiei's memories. The lines blurred between them and he couldn't tell where he ended and Hiei began. Yusuke was seeing everything from Hiei's eyes, feeling everything from under Hiei's skin, like he'd been turned into Hiei.

Maybe Yusuke had always been Hiei.

He was strapped to a table and filled with anger and rage and fear and desperation and longing. And then there was pain, so much pain. Only pain. It sliced through him, cut him in half, and he was sure he would die. He wanted to die. But he did not.

Keiko was there again, kneeling before him on the floor of her room, her bed made up in yellow and the pages of the books on her desk rustling in the wind coming in from the open window. "Will it…will it help you find them?" She was asking, her fingertips ghosting across his forehead.

"I did find them," he said, his voice so quiet he wasn't sure if she could hear him at all. All three of his eyes closed. "They were already dead."

Keiko's fingers trailed down his nose and over his lips and he could hear her breathe. Nothing else existed but her fingers on his lips and her soft breath on his face.

_Except-_

"I have a sister. She is still alive."

His voice is far away, drifting far away, and he can't feel her anymore. She's gone and he's certain he's alone, but her voice carries over the darkness and caresses him, whispers in his ear, "Tell her, Hiei. You should tell her."

Memories like scenes from movies played all around him at once, swarming him in a circle, constantly moving, making themselves known. And he found he couldn't keep his eyes closed anymore.

Keiko, laughing at school with her friends.

Keiko, her skirt lifted up by some kid in a green uniform. Able to defend herself.

Yukina, beautiful and alone and happy. Better off without him.

Keiko, crying. Someone had died.

Keiko, laughing. Someone was alive.

Kurama on a roof top with a plan that would finally supply Hiei with his independence.

Fighting with some kid in a green uniform. Kurama turning traitor. Hiei's independence being taken from him once again.

Fighting on a team against the Four Saint Beasts and watching Keiko, far away, so very far away, fight for her life because some kid in a green uniform loved her too.

The world is spinning too fast to be able to make anything out clearly anymore. He's saving Yukina and fighting in the Dark Tournament and angry that Keiko is in the stands, angry that she isn't there for just him, angry with himself. He's unleashing the dragon. He's winning the tournament.

He's saving the life of the boy who loves Keiko too.

He's destroying Chapter Black without a second thought.

Yukina is handing him her Hiruiseki stone and the truth comes out of him, like someone else is saying it, and no one has ever held him like that. No one has ever cried with him like that.

He's alone with Mr. Y early one morning in the ramen shop, handing him a bag full of money and telling him, "It's for everything. For Keiko. For her future…and for my past." And Mr. Y knows that Hiei's leaving, but he just shakes his head and sighs, "You gotta tell her."

It's leaving without saying goodbye to Keiko.

It's training under Mukuro and getting stronger and dying and coming back to life and getting stronger still. It's fighting to be king and losing but not being lost anymore.

Keiko is crying and the world stops spinning. There is only this - just this one memory. There is only Keiko, on the ground and sobbing, kneeling before him on the floor of her room, her bed made up in yellow and the pages of the books on her desk rustling in the wind coming in from the open window.

And her voice carries over to him, muffled by the wind and her sobs and the pounding in his ears. "Do you love her?"

Hiei's angrier than he's ever been when he grabs her roughly by her shoulders, pulls her to her feet and slams her against her bedroom door. How dare she, _how dare she_, when she's always been the one with her attention divided.

His mouth crashes against hers, angry and desperate and longing. _How dare she. How dare she._ He holds her tight and pins her arms down and presses himself into her, because if she doesn't know now, she'll never know.

His cheeks are wet and in the silence of their kiss he can hear little pin drops hit the floor.

"It's you," he gasps. "It's you. It's you. It's always been you."

Keiko's legs give out and they slide down to the floor together. She pulls her arms free and her fingertips ghost across his forehead and trail down his nose, resting on his lips. Her soft breath is on his face and she smiles.

"I love you."

And it doesn't matter who said it, because it might've been either of him, and he can't tell anymore who said it first, or even if there was a first time. It's always been there, always been between them, always, always, always. His fingers run through her hair that's no longer in pigtails; long and golden brown and soft as silk. His hand curls around the back of her neck and he tilts her head up towards his. His mouth finds hers, a wet tender glide of lips and tongues and aching and longing and finding…

They fit together.

They've always fit together.

_Always, always, always _he whispers in her ear and he rocks into her and kisses her hair and she breathes out his name and gives him life.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Yusuke woke up on the floor of the kitchen in Hiei and Keiko's apartment, tears on his cheeks and a sob stuck in his throat. Sunlight was streaming in through the window above the sink, shining down around the slants in the blinds and casting shadows over him. Every muscle in his body hurt. His head ached and his eyes burned.

_How could I have been so stupid?_

The sink was dripping, _drip drip drip_, like Hiruiseki stones softly hitting the floor. He cried out and buried his face in his hands, the voice of his ancestral mother laughing in his ears. "Your gift is his now," she whispered to him, pulling the sob out of his throat. He curled into a ball on the floor, pressing his knees against his chest and squeezing his eyes closed, willing himself, begging himself, to please-

_Please, just wake up. Just let me wake up._

But she was still in his head, her laughter echoing against the yellow walls of the kitchen in the apartment Keiko shared with someone else.

"Your happiness is his now."

* * *

**A/N**: I do realize I'm taking a big leap here in the name of Creative License by Hiei crying and producing Hiruiseki stones, but my argument for this is that it's never been proven otherwise. And yes, Hiei crying would be out of character - that's kind of the point of this whole story.

If anybody has problems with the rating (because I do still feel like this is a solid T story, not quite M worthy) please let _me_ know and I'll adjust the rating.

I'm torn about how I feel regarding this chapter. One the one hand, I think it's a little wordy and uses "and" too often. On the other hand, I kinda dig it.

And then I'm like, _they won't notice I've been gone for years, right?_


End file.
